Avalon Trust Co Sells 4,225 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Key Points

• Avalon Trust Co has reduced its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. by 52%, selling 4,225 shares and now owning 3,895 shares valued at approximately $1.43 million.
• Ulta Beauty reported $6.70 earnings per share for the recent quarter, surpassing estimates and showcasing a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase to $2.85 billion.
• Research analysts have updated their price targets for Ulta Beauty, with new estimates ranging from $485 to $585, reflecting a strong market interest and a mix of "buy" and "hold" ratings.

Avalon Trust Co lowered its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 52.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,895 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 4,225 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at $430,674,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10,336.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 459,110 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $199,681,000 after buying an additional 454,711 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38,770.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 443,513 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $162,565,000 after buying an additional 442,372 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5,117.0% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 220,312 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $80,753,000 after buying an additional 216,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at $73,780,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA opened at $507.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $475.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $411.51. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $309.01 and a 52-week high of $523.68.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.73 by $0.97. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 49.73%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.47 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $327.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, July 11th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $469.09.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States. The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications.

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